The present invention relates to a device for detecting infectious agents, antibodies or other biological indicators in a biological fluid from a patient undergoing treatment, especially in a medical or dental surgery, on or with a dental unit.
The invention addresses dental surgeries in particular. In dental surgeries, dental units of the latest generation are of extremely high quality in terms of functionality, appliance control and, above all, level of sterility. This high quality is the result of constant research and development of solutions for the improvement of dental units which, in the philosophy of the Applicant, means being able to offer health-care providers and patients an effective means of controlling the risk of cross-infection.
Indeed, increased awareness of the risk of cross-infection has led manufacturers of dental equipment to develop more and more solutions capable of allowing treatment to be carried out under conditions of maximum safety for both health-care providers and patients. It is in this perspective that we must view the development of recent devices for disinfecting/sterilizing dental handpieces and dental unit water and air lines (even between successive patient treatments) and the use of disposable instruments.
There is, however, still much concern about certain diseases such as hepatitis C (HCV), which, as all health-care providers now agree, can also be transmitted during dental treatment.
To ascertain the presence of infectious agents in the medical instruments to be used on patients undergoing treatment (thus guaranteeing the safety of both patients and health-care providers), the Applicant has designed and developed a method and device, disclosed in European patent application EP-990.900, where a fluid sample from the patient is drawn by the aspirator on the dental unit, mixed with a reagent and the result of the reaction displayed on the device itself.
On the basis of this method, the Applicant has aimed to improve on this device in order to develop a kit capable of immediately detecting any of a wide range of biological agents directly in the dental surgery using the blood present in the oral cavity of a patient during a dental treatment such as cleaning or other routine operation within the oral cavity.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a device for detecting infectious agents, antibodies or other biological indicators in a biological fluid drawn from a patient undergoing a treatment in a dental surgery, said device comprising the following: a first endpiece for collecting a sample of a fluid from a patient and mixing a predetermined quantity of it with means for reacting with and/or conditioning the biological agents; a suction tube forming an extension of the first endpiece and designed to thoroughly mix the fluid with the reagent and/or conditioning means and to introduce the mixture in a sealed container that receives the mixture consisting of the fluid and the reagent and/or conditioning means; and means for opening the container designed to permit a controlled discharge of the mixture into corresponding detecting means for displaying the result.